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Holy Family
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December 30, 2018
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Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. Fortunately, most of us value
the gift of family. We treasure it and understand its importance for
both society and Church. We live in a fast-paced world, some with more
than one job in order to make ends meet. It is so easy to get lost in
our day to day living, and when that happens, we may neglect the family
while we worked to provide for them.
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Some of us can remember a song by Harry Chapin recorded many years ago
It was called The Cat’s in the Cradle. It was a ballad about the
relationship between a father and son. The father spent his time and
energies making a successful living. The son kept asking for his
attention, to be able to share his father’s life: “When you comin’
home, Dad?” The son would repeatedly ask, only to receive the reply, “I
don’t know when, but we will get together then.”
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A friend of mine has a daughter who is a lawyer. She lives a
considerable distance from him. Months had passed since he had seen
her. He is not a well man, and every day is precious, so he called to
ask when she might visit. The daughter detailed a list of reasons that
prevented her from taking the time to see him: her court schedule;
meetings; new clients; research, etc. At the end of the recitation, the
father asked, “When I die, do you intend to come to my funeral?” The
daughter’s response was immediate: “Dad, I cannot believe you would ask
that! Of course I will come.” To which the father replied, “Good.
Forget the funeral, and come now. I need you more now than I will
then.”
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St Paul gives us a blueprint for family life. He knows that life is not
easy, particularly in families. Sometimes we are too close to the
people we love to avoid crossed swords and hurt feelings. That is why
St. Paul tells us that forgiveness is the bond that keeps people
together through tough times. He is saying that if people treat each
other well at home, chances are they will treat neighbors and strangers
the same way.
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One cannot speak about family without acknowledging the real fact of
divorce. Perhaps this is too large a subject to mention in a Sunday
homily, so I shall only say, on the part of family and friends, there
must be compassion, understanding and healing.
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The message of Christmas is that we are given a savior who appeared not
with trumpets and clouds, but who was born into a family. Families are
holy communities, and we are called in one way or another to create
holy families because this, quite literally, is where the Gospel of
Christ begins.
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It was at the end of the 80s when many New York hospitals were caring
for orphan babies with HIV. Nobody knew what to do with so many
children. The idea was floated to ask people to foster care them. In
many ways this seemed impossible because who would want to care for an
AIDS baby? Some people didn’t even know how AIDS was spread. However,
some stepped forward, and often took more than one child into their
care. I was often asked to baptize some of these babies. Some churches
would not allow me to use their baptismal font for a child with AIDS,
therefore I baptized them at home.
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We soon realized that the children in foster care were living twice as
long as those in the hospital care. At a meeting of the foster care
team at a major New York hospital, the head doctor, looking at the
statistics, noted the longevity of the foster care children compared to
those in hospital. Both groups of children received the same
medications, and the nurses did their best to care for these children,
but the task was overwhelming: there were so many. A young social
worker, having just graduated from school, looked up at the doctor and
said, “Don’t you realize, Doctor, the children in foster care have been
held; played with; read to. They are part of a family.”
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As we enter a New Year, take Paul’s words as a blueprint for family
life. Clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility,
meekness and patience. Bear with one another. Forgive whatever
grievances you have on one another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven
you. And, over all these virtues put love. Make that phone call, take
that visit now. Remember the song,
The Cat’s in the Cradle: we will get
together then. “Then” may never come. Do it now!
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Yours in Christ, |
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Fr. Bob Warren, SA |
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